First Entry
by Standardshigh
Summary: The First Entry in the journal of D.I Graham Armstrong.


Seeing how Fanfiction seems to be quite popular with a lot of fans here, and having seen quite a few good stories here has well, it eventually got to the stage where I thought I might give it a is an idea that I've had locked in my mind for quite a while now, but it's only in the last week or two that I've started writing it story has seen various alterations, modifications and moderate rewrites before being presented has it is now. I would like to point out this is my first Fanfic, so I apologise for any mistakes or crudity there might be in there.

Series: Ashes to Ashes (post series 3).

Title: First : New Arrival (a.k.a 'Iphone Guy').

Genre: of Words: Over 2800 (a lot more then I thought!)

Author: : Standardshigh.

This story contains scenes of violence.

(CLICK)

"_Ahem._

_I'm not really sure how to begin this, perhaps it's because I never thought I'd EVER be in the situation that I am now. This whole experience has just been….UNREAL. I feel like I'm stuck inside some kind of horrendous nightmare! Either way, whoever you are, I feel that this is a story that HAS to be told._

_I'll start with the very beginning of it all. _

_My name is Detective Inspector Graham Armstrong (1), and the date (such has it is) is Wednesday 7th December 1983 (2). I am currently standing in a flat above an Italian restaurant, which apparently seems to be my new home. The question is, where exactly is NOW, because it's certainly not what I'm use to. Wherever this place is, all I know is that I've been here for THREE DAYS now, and I don't even know why. _

_Everything's changed-my office is gone, along with particularly everyone I knew. The office that I once knew so well after working there for 10 years is now populated by complete strangers, most of whom seem completely unfazed by my presence here. At first I tried to ask them what the hell was going on, but they just looked at me has if I was nuts or something. I kept asking them-pleading with them-just to tell me why this was happening, but they just stared at me, has if they couldn't quite grasp what I was talking about. Eventually, it got to the stage where I just stopped asking. _

_Whatever the reason for all this….EXPERIENCE is (if that's the right way to put it) I do know one thing however-I do not belong here. Not HERE, not in 1983. You see, my life (for me) belongs in the year 2008 (3). That is where I come from. Although all this has been quite a shock to me, what I do remember is THIS: On the day that I was sent here my team at Fenchurch East (MY Fenchurch East, not this version, whatever this may be) were investigating the activities of a local drug baron called Ruben Harris. My team had been monitoring his activities on the streets for some time, and we were on the verge of launching a massive sting on his so-called secret work. The the night before we were scheduled to do the raid, has I was getting ready to go home, I received a phone call. It was from a man called Mark, who use to…..well, STILL DID….work for Ruben has one of his smugglers, but unknown to him had actually turned informant for us. The deal we gave him was that if he gave us any information about what Ruben was up to & where or when he was doing it, we promised to give him an easy ride in the courts (not to mention witness protection). Anyway, has I was putting my coat on and packing up my phone rang. It was Mark. He said that he had some vital information about tomorrow's sting, and that he had to see me now.I asked him what it was, but he said he couldn't tell me over the phone, he had to see me NOW! And that I was to come alone-no one else. He then hung up on me._

_I put the receiver and stood there thinking. The one thing that really struck me was his voice. I had met Mark a couple of times, and over that time I had got to know him. But it was his VOICE that really unnerved me. Listening to him, I couldn't help but notice that he seemed nervous. _

_No, he wasn't nervous-he was SCARED! There were so many thoughts going through my head at that moment. Did Ruben KNOW about tomorrows raid? Did he know we were on to him? Was he getting suspicious about Mark? And if he was, was he threatening him in some way? (Ruben had a reputation for being a particularly vicious bastead -another reason why he had to be taken down). Mark said that he had to see me now and alone, and seeing how everyone else in the office had already gone home, I grab my coat and left. _

_There is an alley way not to far from the station. It is very quite and secluded, and this is where Mark always tries to contact me. Tonight, however, things would be a whole lot different.I arrived at the rendezvous point only to find it empty. I stood in that quiet, dark alleyway alone, waiting for him. It was deserted, nothing but me, the dustbins and a dim streetlight. Has I stood there, a man appeared and the moment I saw him I knew something had gone wrong. _

_He was usual kind of thug you'd expect to find working for men like Ruben, complete with balaclava & baseball bat. Has I stared at him, I heard a noise behind me-there was another one, dressed the same way. He was walking slowly towards me. The pair of them slowly made there way up the alley from opposite ends, with me trapped in the middle. They didn't't say a word, either of them. Not that it made much difference-it was quite obvious why they were there for, and (more importantly) who sent them. _

_Has I stood there, it came quite apparent that Ruben did indeed know that something was up. I could only guess has to what had happened to Mark after he had made that phone call-no wonder he sounded scared. Although I had gone alone, I did have the common sense to take a police radio with me, just in case things turned bad. And my god, did it just! Has I was looking from one to another, trying to decide what to do, I quickly reached for my radio. And that's when they made their move. _

_The one behind me grabbed me from behind & threw me against the wall. He slammed me against it with such force that dropped the radio, and although I couldn't quite see it, from the corner of my eye I saw the other one (the one with the bat) stamp repeatedly on it with his foot. I tried to push away from the wall-and in so doing I felt the bat crack against my head. I tell you now, I have been in a few fights over the years, but this INTENSE! My whole head throbbed with unimaginable pain, and has I tried to open my eyes all I could see was white flashes that blurred my vision. _

_But that was the least of my worries. _

_A sudden bolt of electrically suddenly erupted from the back of my legs has the bat hit home there, and has I collapsed to the ground, that's when it started. Punch after punch, blow after blow, it just didn't seemed to stop, it just kept coming and was nothing I could. I just lied there on my side with my back to them. I just didn't have any strength in me at all. All I could do was just lie there with my head in my hands & my eyes closed waiting for it to all end. And all of a sudden it just seemed to stop. Everything just turned to complete darkness. It felt has if, at that very moment, the ground itself suddenly opened up & I fell into a complete darkness. It felt has if I was falling, falling into a black, silent void. No light, no sound, nothing.I don't know how long I was unconscious there-it could have been minutes, it could have been hours, who knows? However long it was, the blackness that seemed surround me slowly began to fade and has my eyesight became clearer I found myself lying where I had fallen. It was still dark, and the ground as still wet from where it had rained earlier.I slowly pulled myself up and sat there, with my back against the wall, trying to control my breathe. Has I sat there in that alleyway alone, my eyes closed, I tried to remember what those scumbags did to me. _

_And it was then that I suddenly realised that the pain had GONE! All that pain, all that agony had simply…vanished! I opened my eyes and started feeling all over my body for any wounds, but NO! There were no cuts, no bruises, no discomfort, NOTHING! _

_And that's when I noticed my clothes. I just stared. The clothes that I was wearing-that I'm STILL wearing-were certainly not the ones I was wearing that evening, or even during the whole day. In fact, I had never seen these clothes before in my life. They sure has hell weren't mine!_

_I looked at my watch to see how long I had been lying there, and even that was different! It was one of those old silver digital watches, like the one my father use to wear when I was a two year old. The thugs had gone, so I gingerly got up and, still confused, I started wandering back down the alleyway. I had to get help. _

_I reached into my pocket for my Iphone-it was gone! I panicked, thinking that one of those thugs must have stolen it. But then I suddenly realised that the last time I saw it it was on my desk, where it had been all afternoon. I must have left it there in my rush to meet Mark. I carried on walking._-_I wondered through those streets on that cold night trying to get my bearings. Nothing made sense! Everywhere I looked I saw old cars, cars that were DECADES old yet looked brand new. The people I met-the ones that gave me strange looks-were wearing outfits that I hadn't seen since I was a looked so old and dated, and yet, at the same time, almost new!And has for the buildings and streets…_

_Fortunately, my office wasn't to far away, and I started heading in that direction. Imagine my dismay when I entered the reception-and promptly discovered that it too looked completely different. I asked the guy at reception-a stern looking guy I never seen before-where Pete was, has he should have been on there at the time. He just looked at me, and asked me who Pete was. I got angry at this, and said "PC Peter Benson. You know, short brown hair, blue eyes, moustache?" He said he'd never even heard of him! I had to find my Iphone-I had to get in touch with someone I actually knew. I didn't care who it was-Abbi, my parents, my grandfather, ANYONE-just so long has I had someone to talk to.I entered that room-and my heart sank! It, too, had changed-it was has if it hadn't changed for DECADES! I just didn't recognise it has my office anymore. _

_I looked at my desk, expecting to see my Iphone sitting on it exactly where I left it, and my only means of contacting my family (especially my dear Abbi)-and it was gone! It had just…vanished! I have to say I did start to panic then. I started shouting at them, asking them who the hell were they, and what had they done with my Iphone? I HAD to find my Iphone, I just had to get help! _

_And that's when I saw him. The Guv._

_I had never met DCI Hunt before. In fact, I had never even heard of him. But the moment I saw his eyes, and that deep growl in his voice, something deep inside me told me that I was in trouble. BIG TROUBLE! Later, when I had managed to calm down a bit, I learnt the truth. _

_Apparently, according to him, some of his officers had recently been transferred to a different station, and has a result Fenchurch is now under staffed. I personally question the validity of this statement, but when I ask him for anymore details he just clams up, so I'm probably not going to get anymore answers out of him (INTELLIGENT answers, I might add). I even asked some of the other guys there, but they just seemed to have been told the same thing. From what I can gather, there were four of them-Ray Skelton…er, no,no, erm Ray CARLING…er…Chris Skelton…and a woman named Alex. There was also another woman-a female PC-but I didn't catch her name._

_There's something about all this that just doesn't add up-he tells me they've been transferred to another station, and yet refuses give me any details has to where & why they did. I've tried asking everyone else in the station, and they don't seem to have any real information either (other then what he's already told them, which seems to be the same thing he's told me, which doesn't help). I even tried going through all the old employee records, but when he caught me going through his filing cabinet he pretty much asked me "what the hell was I doing" & pretty much told me "to bugger off and do some proper work". _

_It's like this flat that I'm in. Apparently, it use to belong to one of those officers (the woman named Alex) but AGAIN there's something about it that just doesn't seem quite right-all the furniture's here, but there just doesn't seem to be anything PERSONAL about it for some reason. I can only assume that DI Alex either took all her personal possessions with her when she left (things like clothes, jewellery, pictures, that sort of thing), or that someone else came into her flat after she'd gone and simply cleared everything out. I spoke to that strange Italian man down stairs earlier, and he told me that after she left DCI Hunt went up to her flat-THIS flat-and came down shortly after carrying some black dustbin sacks, which (by the looks of it) must have continued her things. After he did this he simply gave this Italian guy the front door key and walked out. He didn't say a word! If this IS the case, then he must have done quite a good job, because I can't find any trace that anyone was here, or even LIVED here._

_I did, however, find this tape recorder hidden away somewhere (which he must have missed), so I thought I might has well make use of it. I also managed to find a few tapes made by this Alex woman, who I have since learnt use to be a psychologist of some kind. I haven't played them yet, but they look has if they may come in useful_.

_I have decided to keep a journal of my time here. This journal will be split into three parts. The first part will record my day-to-day actions here, in this world. Everywhere I go, everyone I meet, everything I see and do and experience here in this world, in 1983, will be written down in detail. I want to keep a detailed log of all my actions from now on, just in case they might come in useful in the future._

_The second part will be for my personal use, and by that I mean what was REALLY happing in my life in 1983. I was only 7 Years old in 1983. My parents-John and Hannah-were living in Islington and I was at The William Tyndale Junior School (4). This was the year we moved from London. We HAD to move because of….the EVENT, has I call it. I had hoped never to experience that incident again, but being here in 1983-knowing full well it's going to happen all over again makes me feel somewhat be honest, I'm kinda scared. I've spent all these years trying to forget about it, trying to pretend that it didn't happen the way it did, it's has if my mind is trying to…re-write history, has it were. _

_So many God awful memories!_

_Believe me, this is one part of my life I do NOT want to relive again. Not if I can help it._

_Has for the third part? Who knows….maybe I'll keep it blank for the time being, just in case I receive any information has to how I got here. Maybe someone, SOMEWHERE knows what's really going on around here, and if they do perhaps they can be so kind has to send me some kind of message, some kind of clue from where I originally came from. _

_PerhapsI can establish some kind of contact with them? I sure hope so._

(SIGH).

_To be honest…I really don't know what else to say now. I think I've pretty much said everything I wanted to for now, but I will be keeping updates of what's been happening from time to time. _

_Who knows, perhaps one day all this will make makes sense some how._

_This is DI Graham Armstrong signing off"._

(CLICK)

NOTES:

(1) I deliberately avoided using potential names mentioned in other stories because I didn't want anyone to think that I was 'latching on' to other peoples work for inspiration (which could best be described has borderline plagiarism). The last thing I want to do is rip anyone off.

(2) In Series 3 episode 8 the calendar that Chris was holding in the dead girls flat had November stated on it. However, has some people on here have already pointed out, the fact that the office is nice & tidy again when the New Arrival turns up suggests that his appearance might have occurred quite some time after Ray, Chris, Alex & Shaz entered the pub. I also used a 'date calculator' on my mobile phone to try and work out which day it would have been.

(3) In series 3 it's established that modern police have found Gene's body in the field under the scarecrow, and seeing how the entirety of Ashes takes place in 2008 I set it slightly before Alex's encounter with Layton so that it wouldn't effect the timeline to way, he wouldn't know who either Alex or Gene really were (because he would have arrived before either of them appeared on the modern news for different reasons).

(4) The William Tyndale Junior School does actually exist in Islington. By including an actual location like this I wanted to try and create a sense realism to this story.


End file.
